The first step in deciding to make an estate plan isn’t necessarily calling up the first lawyer you find on the Internet and asking him or her to help you create a plan. The attorney you select should be someone with whom you feel comfortable, especially when you consider that the estate planning process will often require you to think about some fairly personal issues. To find the attorney that best suits you, your needs, and your individual circumstances, you should develop a plan. Here’s what … [Read more...] about Plan Carefully When Choosing an Estate Planning Lawyer
Estate Planning
Want to Be Remembered? Perhaps Burying Treasure is the Way
Estate planning often includes legacy planning, the practice of leaving behind not only assets for your family members, loved ones, or charities, but also creating a plan that will allow other people to remember you and your life in a positive way. Legacy plans seek to instill your values and leave behind something that’s often far more important than money or property. Legacy planning can take many forms, but perhaps no legacy plan in recent memory has been as unique as the one created by … [Read more...] about Want to Be Remembered? Perhaps Burying Treasure is the Way
Giving Inheritances to Grown Children: Many Options to Consider
Some people going into the estate planning process know a little about inheritances. Some of these people believe that as long as they make a last will and testament and state how they want their children to inherit property, that’s all they really need to do. While creating a will is one way to leave your adult children inheritances, it isn’t always the best way. There are several options you may want to consider if you’re planning on passing on your property after you die. Create a … [Read more...] about Giving Inheritances to Grown Children: Many Options to Consider
Use Your Estate Plan to Cement Your Legacy
Estate planning lawyers are very good at telling their clients what they can do to accomplish their goals and how best to take advantage of the legal opportunities available to them. But your attorney will only be able to advise you about your options. It’s up to you to determine what you want. For people creating an estate plan, your choices will often include concerns other than the legal or the financial. In short, it means developing a legacy plan. Legacy Planning Do you have strong … [Read more...] about Use Your Estate Plan to Cement Your Legacy
Need More Information About an Estate? Consider These Options
An estate is the collection of property a person leaves behind after death. Estates include both assets, such as real estate or bank accounts, as well as debts and other liabilities. The legal process that governs estates is called probate, and each state has its own set of probate laws. If you want to find out about an estate that has been submitted to probate there are several possible ways to do this. Contact the Estate Administrator Every time someone dies someone else has to open a … [Read more...] about Need More Information About an Estate? Consider These Options
Estate Planning or Dynasty Planning?
For many people, especially those with family-owned businesses that have been in the family for generations, estate planning is more than just about choosing how you wish to pass your property on after you die. It’s also about ensuring that your family will be able to maintain the business and keep a positive relationship with wealth so that they can keep the family legacy strong. People in this kind of situation will want to focus on dynasty planning as a key part of their estate … [Read more...] about Estate Planning or Dynasty Planning?
Incorporating a CRT Into Your Estate Plan
Some people who develop an estate plan early find that as the years go by their desires change and they want to adjust their plans to reflect their new goals. Many people, for example, place a much higher emphasis on charitable giving later in lives than they do when they first develop an estate plan after they have children. For many of these people, especially those with a considerable amount of wealth, incorporating a charitable remainder trust, or CRT, is often a good choice. Here’s … [Read more...] about Incorporating a CRT Into Your Estate Plan
Your Living Trust: The Basics
If you are new to the estate planning process you probably don’t know a lot about trusts, or living trusts in particular. While your estate planning lawyer will be able to walk you through the trust creation process and explain to you in detail how different trusts benefit you, you can do a lot to educate yourself about the basics of how living trusts work and why you might want one. Creating Your Own Fictional Entity A living trust really only exists on paper. But unlike a novel or other … [Read more...] about Your Living Trust: The Basics
For Charitable Giving, the Family Foundation Offers Significant Benefits
If you are developing an estate plan and want to make charitable giving a centerpiece of your efforts, you might want to consider creating a family foundation. While most people associate family foundations with wealthy people such as Bill Gates or John D. Rockefeller, people of more moderate means can still take advantage of these tools if they wish to make charitable donations an important element in their estate plans. Numerous Options There is no single blueprint to creating a family … [Read more...] about For Charitable Giving, the Family Foundation Offers Significant Benefits
Good Estate Plans Need to Change With the Times
Time marches ever on, and anyone with an estate plan has to be able to adjust as the world changes. While you probably know that changes in your life circumstances should require you to review your estate plan, you may also want to make adjustments because of advances in technology or other factors. If it’s been a few years since you addressed your estate plan or took the time to review it, here are two areas you may have missed before that you will want to review now. Your Digital Life The … [Read more...] about Good Estate Plans Need to Change With the Times
